Asleep at Last
by the Azbaban Dreamer
Summary: There is an emergency at Godric's Hollow involving baby Harry and only Sirius Black can deal with it.


Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

The streets of Godric's Hollow were deserted that night and there was a calm silence in the village. Even the Church and graveyard stood silent and if one were to look out their window, they would find the streets empty and the curtains in the picturesque cottages firmly closed.

Except the silence ended in the form of rapid footsteps being made. Outside, there was a large, shaggy black dog trotting through the village at a hurried pace. The dog turned and trotted down a narrow lane, sniffing out its destination. A couple of rabbits leapt aside as the dog sprinted past and entered through an iron gate and made its way up the path leading to a small, homely cottage.

The dog looked inside the sitting room windows whose curtains were open and saw a beautiful woman holding a crying baby with jet-black hair. Meanwhile, the tall man also with untidy black hair and glasses was making funny faces at the baby who kept crying.

The dog could hear the baby's cries that were loud enough to be uncomfortable to the dog. The dog wagged its tail at the sight of the young family and turned into a tall, handsome young man with long, dark hair. He had the look of a casual elegance about him and was dressed in a long, black travelling cloak. The man made his way to the cottage door and knocked four times. Inside, there was the sound of scurrying footsteps over the baby's cries. The man heard a harsh shout.

"Who's there?" Shouted the man with untidy hair through the other side of the door. "Identify yourself!"

"Relax," The man said in a hoarse whisper. "It is I, Sirius Black, also known as Padfoot. I was invited to this Cottage by my best friend, James Potter, also known as Prongs. We are Animagi together and I can turn into a dog, whilst Prongs can turn into a Stag."

There was a sigh of relief on the other side of the door and Sirius heard the lock click and the door opened slowly a few inches revealing a hazel eye behind a pair of glasses. The eye saw Sirius and Sirius imagined the other man grinning before he opened the door wider revealing Sirius's best friend and honourary brother, James Potter.

James, in Sirius's opinion looked terrible. He had dark circles under his eyes and Sirius could see a small layer of stubble forming on his chin. But all of that was irrelevant now as James pulled Sirius into a bone crushing hug.

"Blimey, Padfoot," James sighed. "It's been _too_ long."

"Good to see you, Prongs," Sirius said fiercely, patting James's back. "You look terrible, mate."

James laughed and pulled out of the hug.

"Cheeky git," He snorted. "I haven't seen you for a month and the first thing you tell me is that I look terrible?"

"Just being honest," Sirius shrugged and James grinned.

"Thanks for coming," James said. "We know you're busy with the Order, but this is a bit of an emergency. It's Harry. He just won't settle. We've tried everything, but it's no use."

"How is our little protégé?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Harry's been cranky all day," James muttered, looking stressed out. "We've tried everything and all his does is cry. It's driving us around the bend. Lily's at her wits end and so am I. I just want my little man to sleep."

Just then, the living room door opened and Lily Potter emerged holding a bawling Harry in her arms and her dark red hair looking disheveled with her bright green eyes full of worry.

"Oh, Sirius!" She exclaimed over the noise. "It's _so_ good to see you! I'm so sorry for calling you out this late, but Harry's been frantic. He said that he wants you and his crying has been driving us all mad and I just don't know what to do. James has tried _everything_! Smoke rings, flashes, bangs. They made him cry harder. James ever transformed but his antlers caught the mantlepiece and smashed this really ugly plate that Petunia sent me and Harry just screamed even louder. He's even frightened the cat off."

"It's alright, Lily," Sirius said soothingly over Harry's cries. "I'm here."

He gently took Harry from Lily's arms and Harry looked at him and stopped crying at once as he looked into Sirius's face. His eyes, exactly the same colour and shape as Lily's were wide as he looked at Sirius and suddenly, his mouth split into a wide grin.

"Hello, my little trouble maker," Sirius said softly, gently bouncing his Godson up and down. Harry let out a watery giggle and reached forward with his little hand.

"Seery-us," Harry said in a small voice, his little hand tracing Sirius's jaw and going over his beard.

"I've heard you haven't been sleeping for your Mummy and Daddy," Sirius said in a mock stern voice that made Harry giggle again. "Who's been a cranky boy today?"

Harry let out another giggle and squirmed excitedly in Sirius's arms.

"Want Seery-us," Harry said softly and Sirius's heart melted and he pulled Harry in for a hug where he rested against Sirius's chest.

"I'm here now, Harry," Sirius said softly. "You can go to sleep now, little man."

"C'mon," James said, smiling at the sight of Harry nuzzling into Sirius's chest. "It's better if he goes to sleep in the lounge."

James led the way to the lounge and Sirius gently carried Harry through, being careful not to make any noise. As Sirius was sitting down, he spotted a wand on the table and recognised it at once.

"You answered the door without your wand?" Sirius asked James as he sat down with Harry.

"Oh, yeah," James said absentmindedly. "So that's where I left it. I must've put there when I finished trying to entertain Harry."

"What was it that Moody said about leaving wands unattended?" Sirius asked irritably.

"Err? Don't do it?" James said blankly and Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on, Sirius!" James snapped. "You try keeping a hold of your wand when you've got a baby who is into absolutely _everything_ and won't settle down."

"I would've thought you would be a bit more careful," Sirius said. "What if that was Voldemort knocking on your door?"

"Nonsense," James said sharply. "Peter would _never_ sell us out. Do you want a drink? It's going to be tea I'm afraid because that's all we've got."

Before Sirius could reply, James stormed out of the lounge and made his way to the kitchen. Lily sat down next to Sirius.

"James doesn't like being cooped up," She said quietly. "He's been getting really frustrated and with Harry acting the way he was, it's taken its toll on him. Dumbledore's _still_ got his Invisibility Cloak as well so that means no trips to the shops."

"Oh, Lily, I'm sorry," Sirius sighed. "I should've visited you all earlier."

"Don't be silly, Sirius," Lily chided gently. "James and I both know that the Order comes first. We just have to make the best of this situation."

Just then, there was a tiny, snuffly snore and both Sirius and Lily looked to see Harry move his head, but his eyes were shut and he was clearly sound asleep.

"Thank god for that," Lily whispered, looking at Harry with such tenderness, that Sirius felt a lump in his throat. "He's finally asleep."

Lily got up and took Harry's blanket and wrapped him up in it very carefully. She gently stroked Harry's forehead before leaning in and kissing it. James came back into the lounge, carrying three steaming mugs. He saw Harry asleep in Sirius's arms and grinned.

"Thank Merlin for that," James said softly, looking at Harry affectionately as he set the mugs down and gave Lily a peck on the cheek. "It looks like you've still got the touch, mate."

"I told you it was a good idea to call Sirius," Lily smiled at him. "I think Harry's missed you." She added, smiling at Sirius.

"And I've missed you all," Sirius said softly, looking at Harry's face and marvelling how peaceful he looked as he slept.

"He won't let you go now," James chuckled. "It looks like you're going to be here all night."

"I could use the rest," Sirius said gratefully. "It's been hectic out there. We managed to save a Muggle family from the Death Eaters, today. We couldn't save their house though. It went down in flames and we couldn't do a thing."

"I wish I was out there with you," James said, sitting down with his mug. "But Lily and Harry's safety comes first."

"As it should be," Sirius nodded, feeling quite sleepy all of a sudden. He took several sips of his tea and the conversation turned more pleasant as they discussed safer topics that didn't mention the war.

Eventually, James and Lily dropped off to sleep and Sirius couldn't blame them. He had looked after Harry once and the boy was quite a handful, getting into places where he shouldn't.

Sirius himself eventually succumbed to sleep with Harry snoring gently, snuggled into Sirius's chest. Sirius's last thought before he dropped off to sleep was how lucky he was to know this loving family.

* * *

Thank you for reading.


End file.
